“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8
Sunday morning I was reading Psalm 40 and verse eight jumped out at me. It says: “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” I had to ask myself if doing God’s will was truly my delight or if I have allowed distractions to keep me from true joy. Not only that, but the word delight has been on my mind since then. It’s not a word that I hear a lot these days. When I looked up the definition, the definitions of both the verb and the known had a modifier. It doesn’t mean to please or pleasure, but it said “to please greatly” or “great pleasure”. Merriam-Webster adds that an archaic definition is “the power of affording pleasure”. With all of the distractions in life and the entitlements that we are told that we have, I think that we have lost the concept of delight. Does anything truly bring us great pleasure? More importantly, does our relationship with God afford us an immense joy that it is the driving force in our lives? Does obedience to His commands truly delight us, or is it just a habit or something that is expected of us? I fear that my behavior would indicate that I have a preference for God’s law, but that I have not yet reached the point that I can say that I truly delight in it at all times. Yet, I know from both teaching and experience that the pure delight can only be found in God’s will and His precepts.
It is imperative that our first step is to genuinely recognize the value that they hold. If we are not aware of their significance, they simply become patterns of behavior that are easily broken. However, when we do grasp their importance, they become part of our mindset and the philosophy by which we live rather than a mere intellectual exercise. In this we are not alone but rather guided by the Holy Spirit touching our souls as well as our mind. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that we were chosen before the world was created. In that sense, God reached out and invited us to live a better life; to live by a better standard than the world offers. Psalm 119 is a series of meditations and prayers with respect to God’s law. Verse 16 declares delight in God’s statutes and the desire to not forget God’s word. It is delight in recognizing the value and the wisdom in God’s precepts. Verse 24 goes on to speak of them as counselors and that they are. They provide a framework for living an excellent life; they offer a better way…a way that leads to life everlasting.
However recognizing the value of God’s precepts and agreeing with them is not enough. Verse 17 of Psalm 119 goes on to make a request of God: “Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.” Verse 35 echoes that request: “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.” These are both appeals to God for the initiative, strength and perseverance to move from knowing God’s holy precepts to living them. It’s a foreshadowing of James 1:22-25 which says: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” Many see God’s law as a list of things not to do, however, it is in fact a list of better ways to live or a more excellent way that draws us closer to God and enables richer relationships. When we choose to live by God’s standards, we live a life without the guilt, regret or fear caused by selfish behavior. We can be at peace with ourselves and God with respect to our conduct. However, no matter how well we live, there will be trouble…just look at the life of Christ. Psalm 119:143 takes us a step further: “Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.” It is a testimony to the world of God’s truth when we hold firmly to God’s ways and delight in them even in times of difficulty; it is also a visible sign of God at work in us when we can truly find joy in God’s wisdom even in stressful times. On our best days, we are still sinful humans that struggle with our resolve to exhibit godly behavior. In those times we repent, fall on God’s grace and ask for help as the psalmist did in Psalm 119:176: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.” When we choose to observe God’s ways we find joy in the good times, strength in the difficult times as well as forgiveness and renewal when we fail.
James (as well as psalm 112:1 and other passages) tells us that the one who is an effectual doer will be blessed. While the blessings are many, consider the following short but important list. Psalm 1 tells us that living by God’s precepts allows us to be “firmly planted” and what we do will prosper. In God’s law we find good counsel (Psalm 119:24). Proverbs 11:20 and Psalm 147:9-11 tell us that our delight in God’s law and living as He desires causes God to delight in us and lavish His favor upon us. In affliction we are revived and consoled (Psalm 119:91-93 and Psalm 94:19). Psalm 37:4 promises that we will receive the desires of our heart. Ultimately, when we live by God’s precepts and align our will with His, we are promised eternity with Him and the enjoyment of His presence forever.
Delight in our God and in His principles is the purest form of delight and yields the greatest joy. It yields blessings in this life and the life to come. It is not a restrictive life but rather a life freedom in Christ.
May you delight in the Lord, serve Him faithfully and receive the rewards that He promises and is faithful to fulfill.
Will